Lemon Fresh

Start your Monday on a bright note with some lemons, ranging from the Dutch Golden age to the present.

• Willem Kalf’s Still Life gives lemons a dramatic entrance. Direct light illuminates their mildly textured surface, reflecting into the ornate silver jug and gold watch. The lemons are casually tipping over a bowl from the Ming dynasty, picked up from distant lands on Dutch trade routes. A twisted gold goblet full of white wine hides in the back. The lemon shows off all of these luxuries for the successful merchants able to acquire them. But, as with every Dutch still life, the painting reigns in such extravagance. Lemon juice was added to wine to reduce its strength. And what about that lemon in the back of the bowl, covered in mold and dried up skin? Its rind appears to have been used for decoration, leaving its juice to waste. A rotting lemon grounds the luxurious surroundings in time, suggesting that all of this wealth will soon go to waste. But the painting won’t. It will remain fresh with the splendor of pleasure and money.

• Kyle Bean’s Brains are made from a luscious selection of lemons, grapes, blueberries, and dark chocolate. You might as well call yourself a zombie.

• Gijs Bakker’s Grape Brooch takes the still lifes of the Dutch Golden age into the present, keeping the same love of luxury. The bunch is a combination of yellow gold, pearls, and diamonds.